Fragments of a Dove
by Lady Nightshade
Summary: Morrison hires Dante, Lady, and Trish to protect his niece named Michael Morrison, also called Mika, from demons and various human enemies when she becomes a key character in a long forgotten prophecy. Dante/Mika Own Orginal Character
1. Chapter 1

Fragments of a Dove

Author's Notes, Warnings, Inspirations, and Disclaimers: Just so that we are all on the same page and so that none of you can say I didn't warn you. This work of fiction contains material that is religious in nature and contains material that you may or may not agree with. Also this work contains hints of romance between two people that are eighteen years apart, will eventually become full romance. This work will also contain characters that range along the religious spectrum of being extreme, laid back, hypocritical, and anywhere in between. If you are easily offended by works that show Christians in varying degrees of how they handle their faith personally and when in contact with others don't read this. Also if there are hints of incest in the past. The events of Devil May Cry four happened about two years prior to this fiction.

Characters/Orginizations of high note: Will be added to has the characters come into play

**Michael** – 18 year old girl who was conceived under unfavorable circumstances, the Dove that was prophesized, Morrison's niece, her friends call her Mika.

**Dante** - 36 years old, Devil Hunter who owns Devil May Cry and is hired by Morrison to protect his niece (I'm estimating here thinking that he is at least 18 in DMC 3 and then DMC takes place at least ten years later making him 28 and if we are going by the release date of the fourth game being how many years have passed in DMC 4 he was 34 and this takes place two years later making him 36)

**Jasmine** – 18 years old, English-American, Islamic friend of Michael's. Being trained by her father, another Devil Hunter that gets his contracts from Morrison, to be a Devil Hunter as well. Her family knows just about anyone who is anyone if every branch of the military and government officials in numerous countries.

**Lilith** – 18 years old, a Cheerleader friend of Mika and Jasmine. Practices Wicca behind her parents' back and can't wait to graduate from High School so she can move to a new town and live without fear.

**Trish** – ? years old Dante's old partner, clone of his mother and was at one time Mundus' puppet, as the ability to control over lighting and uses his father's old guns. How exactly do you count the clone years?

**Lady** – 35 years old, at one time she went by Mary; that is until after her father murdered her mother. She is the resident fire arms, lore, legends both urban and not, and bomb expert, a former gymnast, and thanks to her late mother's family can get just about anywhere with no one being the wiser.

**Morrison** – 37 years old, One of Dante's Agents and Michael's Uncle. If Lady can't get the transportation together to a job he can.

Also I think Morrison is his last name so I am naming him Gabriel for his first name.

This story was inspired by the movie Stigmata. Even so I did do some research on the actual Stigmata even so some fictional liberties were taken in the creation of the story. I also did some research on the Wiccan and the Muslim religion; having friends that are members of the religions and asking them any questions that I have.

Any characters or ideas that are owned by CAPCOM are not owned by me.

Thanks: Nikkiwalker, Sidrah, Kitsunefyu, Jamie, Kyia Star, and Cerridwenn who were a great help with this plot. Also many thanks to a friend of mine from High School Nat, who helped me with various things pertaining to the Mika's character in regards to her mental state and handling being attacked by her mom and other things of that nature.

________________________________________________________________

When one day gives way to the next,

When the veil is thin and transparent,

She will be born, the Dove of this World.

To save or to damn,

Is the choice to be made.

When the sacrifice of three is achieved

All will give witness to the Devil's Dove.

One hundred years after the Catholic Empire began to take hold of Europe, these words spoken by a prophetess were sealed away within the walls of the Vatican and were known only to the most privileged men and women. Two hundred years before this prophecy was to be fulfilled these words were stolen by a traitor to the Vatican's secret elite army and given to a dark organization that dabbled in devil worship and made contracts in blood and souls with devils. For two hundred years many women have been killed having these people think they were the Dove in the prophecy. For two hundred years all these women died in vain, but the day is at hand when the Dove shall be born and the fate of the world lies in her hands.

Thirteen Years Earlier Than Present Day____________________________________________________

Michael Morrison (called Mika by the few friends she had and her much loved uncle) stepped into the small room that her mother was resting in. She was hungry. In fact she was very hungry.

"Mamma," she called, entering the room. "Mamma, I'm hungry."

Michael's mother ignored her and continued to pray. This was not the first time she'd done so and .. Michael was used to being ignored; Uncle Gabriel said that her mamma was sick and that sometimes she needed to touch mamma to get her attention. Michael did just that and when Mamma jerked slightly, she expected Mamma to smile at her and make her lunch, like she normally did. That didn't happen this time. This time her Mamma pulled her to her knees beside her and pushed her forehead to the ground, before whispering a soft prayer that Michael had prayed all her life before bed.

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Should I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."

"Mamma?" asked Michael, looking up from the floor when she was done. "I'm hungry Mamma."

"Close your eyes Michael," she whispered, placing the palm of her hand over her daughter's eyes and laying her down on the floor. "Close your eyes, baby, close your eyes."

"Mamma?" whispered Michael.

Her mother said nothing and as Michael's eyes blinked a few times she noticed something in her mother's hands. She opened her eyes and screamed. Then pain came brief though it was it was still pain and the she heard shouting and her mamma screaming words then nothing.

Present day_________________________________________________________________

Michael, being unable to sleep, blinked back the memories of that night and wondered where they had come from and why they were bothering her now. She massaged her right shoulder slightly with her left hand; it was starting to hurt again. It did that whenever she thought of that night and again whenever it was going to rain. She hadn't thought of that night in years. Her therapist had been ecstatic when the nightmares had stopped haunting her on a constant basis. She sighed and rolled her head slightly working her shoulders to release any tension that had built there since she had been lost in a rather unwanted memory. She turned back to the portable stereo at her feet and turned it on, Rob Stuart blared from the speakers.

She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes and when she exhaled, opened them and ran down the blue mat guiding her body into a cartwheel and three back flips. She continued to do various tumbling moves to the music that would slowly build in intensity before going back down when she needed to cool down. Chumbawumba's, "Mary, Mary" came on and by then she could feel the sweat rolling down her body, between her shoulder blades and down her spine.

It was when one of the songs ended and she was standing in the corner of the mats that she noticed that a dove had somehow gotten into the room. She paused in her exercise and watched the bird fly around, wondering how exactly it got into the house, as much as she hated to do it, she's going to have to start her cool down sooner and then lock the creature inside until her uncle can take care of it in the morning, too late to do anything about it now. She sighed and cart wheeled her way to the music system to flip through the songs faster to start her cool down.

She was halfway finished with her cool down when she became aware of a scent reaching her nose, a familiar scent from church, of Frankincense and myrrh but there was also the smell of lilies. She came up from a cart wheel and paused, confused and a little afraid. The room temperature suddenly plunged and she wrapped her arms around herself as her breath came out in small puffs of smoke. She rushed over to her black, cotton hoody and pulled it on, zipping it up before rushing up the stairs. The cold and the smell seemed to follow her like a puppy as she made her way to the fireplace to start the gas fire going so it would start warming up the house. At least that was the plan; her night just sort of went to hell after that, the last thing she saw before her world was wrapped in pain was a dove flying past her to rest on the rolltop desk.

Elsewhere, Gabriel Morrison was tired, it had been a long day and all he wanted to do now was go home, take a shower, and get some sleep. Hopefully, all this would be accomplished without waking up his niece. He wanted to kill his father for naming her Michael before the man found out she was a girl, but he couldn't touch his father where he was and it wasn't worth the effort of even trying. He yawned as he drove his car down the streets of the city to reach his own street and thus his house. He had just dropped Dante off at the younger man's shop which also acted has Dante's place of residence. He would stop by later to deliver the money for the job.

Gabriel frowned slightly the closer he got to his house and wondered why he was suddenly felt more worried than tired. Perhaps being the liaison for Dante, along with being an old friend of said Devil Hunter and the other liaison, Enzo who was currently in hiding again, was starting to make him paranoid. He doubted it was serious, but just to make sure he mentally counted the amount of bullets left in his gun as he slowed his car down to make the turn onto his street. He got out of the car and broke into a run when he heard his niece, Michael, screaming from within the house. He fumbled with the door before kicking it down and running into the house. He froze when he saw his niece being whipped by an unseen force as her hands were held above her head by nothing.

"What the hell?" breathed the police officers as they stormed into the house and saw the two more lashes appear on her back before she collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Dream###########################################################

When Mika opened her eyes she found herself wearing a green hospital gown and was standing in undoubtedly the most beautiful garden she had ever seen and that was being cared for by the ultimate perfectionist. She turned around slowly to get her bearings taking in the feel of the softest grass with the greenest color beneath her feet. There was also the multitude of flowers that were in full bloom, showing off their rich colors as they filled the air with their sweet scents that mixed with the fresh air. The sound of birds singing filled the air along with the movement of animals on the forest floor and in the tree branches. The trees themselves were strong, tall and perfectly portioned, their leaves, flowers, and fruits were beautiful and deep with their various colors blending beautifully.

"Where am I?" she asked softly.

"Tell me little Dove," hissed a singing voice that seemed to be both in the distance and all around her. "What will you do? Will you cry and hide? Will you stand and fight? What will you do? The devil's son makes his way. The angel's son wants to play. What will you do?"

Mika followed the sweet voice's call through the trees until she came across one of the largest trees growing in the middle of a circle chamomile flowers with the thickest branches and the greenest leaves out of the entire garden. It was by far the most beautiful tree she had ever seen with a dark red fruit that was a cross between an apple and a pomegranate. She stepped closer to the tree until she was right below it and looked up into its branches where she saw something slithering its way down to her.

"What on earth?" she whispered, watching the large, emerald green snake hang on the lowest branch to stare into her eyes.

"Tell me little Dove," the snake continued to sing. "What will you do? When they place the world at your feet and in your hands? What will you do? What will you do? Will you save or destroy? Tell me sweet Dove what will you do? You have the whips of the Godchild on your back. You have the fate of the world in your hands. What will you do? Do you love the world with all you have? Do you hate the world through your tears? What will you do? The choice is up to you."

"Are you the serpent that they speak of in the book of Genesis?" she breathed in wonder.

"Very good little Dove," hissed the serpent, coiling loosely around her shoulders.

"Does that mean I am in the Garden of Eden?"

"You are."

"Why am I here?"

"To learn about your destiny," answered a female voice behind her.

"Learn what?" she asked, turning around to face another female.

Mika froze when she saw the woman that had been standing behind her. Her hair was a rich, wild dark brown color that hung loose around her face, down to her waist and her sea green eyes pierced into Mika's own eyes down into her soul. The woman she was staring at made her feel more exposed then she had ever felt and she fought down the urge to fidget with the stupid paper gown. The older woman's dark skin, reminded her of Jasmine's only with even more perfect skin. She also gave off a sense of power and control without being overly dominating; yet being willing to be dominated by someone under the condition that they understood she was being submissive because she wanted to be not because it was expected of her as a woman.

"Learn more about your role in life," answered the woman calmly. "Your destiny is tied to this world in more ways than you can even imagine."

Mika opened her mouth to ask another question, when she watched the woman's dark skin and hair pale to ivory and reddish blonde respectively as her green eyes became amber. Her open mouth was joined by her wide eyes as she stared in shock.

"You will come to understand all that in time," answered the pale, amber eyed woman while giving her a kind smile.

End dream*********************************************************************

Mika opened her eyes with a deep breath and found herself staring at the wall of a hospital room and her uncle sitting on a chair asleep.

"What on earth was that?" she asked softly.

Several Hours Later________________________________________________________________

Dante was sitting at his desk looking at one of his dirty magazines when Morrison walked into the shop, three hours late but at least he had his money. He raised an eyebrow at the man who looked like he had gotten no sleep.

"Morrison," said Dante, eyeing the older man somewhere between annoyance and surprise. "What's up? You're late."

"My niece is in the hospital," said Morrison, walking up to the desk.

"That sucks," said Dante, shrugging his shoulders and turning his attention back to the porn magazine he was holding in his hands. "What happened and why exactly does it concern me?"

"What sucks?" asked Lady coming into the shop with Trish not far behind her.

"Morrison's niece is in the hospital," said Dante, taking his eyes away from the magazine. "Sucks for the little brat."

"Good. You're here I have a job for the three of you," said Morrison, ignoring Dante and placing the briefcase from Dante's last case on the desk before the silver haired man.

"What sort of job?" asked Trish, knocking Dante's feet off the desk, throwing his magazine into the trash on the other side of the store, and taking a seat on his desk.

"Damn it, Trish! What the hell was that for?"

"Pay attention!" she snapped back.

"I am going to hire you to protect my niece," said Morrison, hoping to stop the argument before it could even start.

"Why are you hiring us to protect your niece?" asked Lady, taking off her sunglasses and perching on the end of the pool table. "Did demons attack her?"

"We don't know. We never saw who attacked her."

"They were gone before you got there?"

"No, she was still being whipped when I got there and there was no one there to whip her. She was whipped forty times before whatever it was that was attacking stopped."

Dante, Lady, and Trish stared at him for several moments; before they exchanged a raised eyebrow and turned back to him.

"We accept," said Dante, a smile forming on his lips.

Hospital_____________________________________________________________________

When Dante arrived at the hospital with the others to see Morrison's niece he was expecting someone like Patti, a little, bratty child. What he got was an eighteen-year-old. She was sleeping on her side, probably to help with the stitches, and her light blonde hair, which was almost white, was braided beside her on the bed. There were bruises around her wrists that looked like she had been tied to something. He watched Morrison reach out for her and shake her slightly. She blinked a few times before she fully opened her eyes as she shifted her head slightly to look at her uncle before moving again to look at them one at a time her eyes, he noticed, were a light shade of green.

"Mika," said Morrison, kissing her forehead gently. "These are friends of mine and they are going to protect you."

The blonde girl turned her head slightly to stare at them as she opened her mouth to say something when the hospital door opened and two girls stormed into the room, like hurricanes. One girl had brown hair, which she had pulled into a French braid, with amber eyes, while wearing a sparkly pink, long sleeved top and bleached out jeans and baby pink, sandaled heels. She wore a silver pentagram on a light pink ribbon secured around her neck, and diamond earrings in each ear, a thumb ring with a rose quartz crystal was on her left hand. Her tan skin was high lighted by gold make up and gold glitter. The girl she was with had darker eyes and black hair that was slightly spike out around her face. Her jeans were black and she was wearing a blue cardigan with sneakers. She had two silver studs in each ear with a small, silver hoop in her right ear, around her neck hanging from a leather chocker she had a silver Taveez, along with a silver ring that had a sapphire stone on her right hand.

"So," began the brown haired girl, flitting about the room and talking like she was on a serious caffeine high barely pausing to breathe between each word. "Trying to beat the rumors going around about Father Thomas and Sister Mary Bridget are we? Do you remember them? I wonder whatever happened to them."

"Last I heard they had moved to California, gotten married, and the baby had been born," said Mika, drolly. "And there is no we involved here; there is just me."

"Really?" asked the girl, rearranging some flowers. "California? Cool!"

"Lil," said the other girl, taking a seat on the edge of the hospital bed. "Chill, sit down, and shut the fuck up. So, Mika what the fuck actually happened last night?"

"I was attacked by an unseen force," answered Mika, drowsily from the morphine. "Well, to be more frank I was whipped forty times by an unseen force."

"What?!" shrieked Lilith, causing both Dante and Trish to wince slightly and zipping over to the other side of the bed. "An unseen force?! Are you alright? Jasmine, how can you be so fucking calm? Do you need anything Mika? Do I need to-."

Whatever it was that Lilith was going to say was halted when Jasmine yanked the pentagram off her neck, evidently the knot had been tied to be released in case of emergency, and slapped a hand over the girl's mouth just as a nurse walked into the room. The nurse was wearing light purple scrubs and had her black hair in a tight braid up in a bun. A silver Celtic Cross hang around her neck and she looked less than thrilled to be here. She raised a delicate eyebrow and took in each of the Devil Hunters in turn her eyes widening when she saw the skimpy outfits that Trish and Lady were wearing. When her eyes landed on Dante her mouth opened slightly at the leather and buckles he was wearing, she stopped when she noticed he was smirking and turned away with a haughty noise, to turn her attention to the blonde patient.

"Well Miss. Morrison how is the pain?" she asked, checking the IV unit.

"I've been better," she muttered, turning her attention to the ceiling. "Though on the other hand I've been worse so I guess it all evens out in the end. Thanks for asking."

"That's good, it looks like you should be able to go home Monday."

"Joy."

"Your cholesterol is healthy."

"That's good to know."

"Your heart rate is normal."

"I knew the gymnastic lessons were good for something."

"And you're not pregnant."

"Damn. Looks like we can't call The Tabloids over my giving birth as a virgin."

Lilith and Jasmine bit their lower lips to keep from snickering.

"Doctor Travis will be in to check up on you shortly."

"Great, I'm jumping for joy in my dark, happy place."

"Mika!" berated her uncle. "That's enough!"

The nurse made a noise of annoyance in the back of her throat and she left the room.

"Dark, happy place?" asked Dante, his voice laced with amusement and a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Morrison," said Dante, after breaking his gaze away from the girl. "Give Trish and Lady your key so they can look into the house."

"Right," said Morrison, digging in his pocket for his key ring.

"Trish, Lady," said Dante. "Go check on any demonic activity lingering in the house. I'll stay here and find out anything else I can about the situation."

"Yeah, right," muttered Trish, the blonde demoness was well aware that he was probably going to take a nap instead of talking to Morrison; that said both women left the hospital and headed toward their bikes.

Dante turned his attention back to the three girls and watched them chatter away with each other, the girl, Lilith, bouncing slightly on the bed almost as if she couldn't keep still; meanwhile Jasmine would make sarcastic comments to Lilith and threatened several times to break out the duck tape, this would normally calm the girl down for about three seconds. Morrison sighed and took a seat by the window, picking up the book that was resting on the table beside it; while Dante took a seat in the other chair, laying his guitar case where his sword was hidden beside him and in easy reach. He leaned back in his chair and let the chatter of the three girls lull him into a light sleep, he could still faintly hear them in the background. On the other side of the window were three white doves, cooing softly.

Morrison's Place______________________________________________________________________

The two Hunters entered the house; Lady slipped the key into the pocket of her dark green shorts. They glanced around the hall for a minute before Lady pointed towards the top level and headed in that direction, leaving the ground floor level for Trish. They would tackle the bottom floor together after meeting back in the hall.

Lady pulled the first door she came to open and sighed when she realized it was a spare linen closet. There wasn't much use there unless the devil had taken to hiding in the linen closet. She doubted it, but then again one never knew. She turned her attention to the next door, which was across from the closet and entered into what was probably Morrison's room, based on what she considered to be masculine decor. She shut the door and looked around the room. Directly across from the door was a large queen sized bed, with dark brown and green sheets that matched the curtains. Beside the bed on either side was a small table with drawers, examining the top drawers in each revealed books and guns. Did this mean Morrison moved in his sleep a lot? She sighed and found nothing of interest in the rest of the drawers of the small tables.

"I wonder how many times Morrison gets laid by these women," she asked herself softly, paging through an address book with a lot of female names and numbers.

She moved towards the door that was near a tall set of drawers and opened it to reveal a closet that had Morrison's suits hanging in it. The set of drawers beside it had Morrison's personal items such as his socks, ties, and boxer-briefs. She always wondered what the man wore beneath his pants, somehow this seemed to fit him rather well. She shoved the drawer closed and rummaged through the rest of them revealing workout clothes, undershirts and other odds and ends with the bottom drawer holding his shoes. Weird. She headed towards the final door and found herself in a bathroom. With dark green towels and brown wicker cabinets hanging on the wall. There was nothing interesting in the bathroom she headed back towards the hall and into another room, which was probably the guest room.

The guest room as she had come to call it was unisex with its cream colored walls and white, wrought iron double bed. The sheets were an ivory color with ivory curtains on hanging over the windows. The closet and the dresser were both bare, along with the small bedside table. Defiantly the guest room. She figured the room across from it was the guest bathroom. Turned out she was right all it had was a small shower stall, sink and toilet with ivory and white towels.

She entered the final room and pushed the door open, and raised an eyebrow when she saw the room. The only sign of the sun was the small ray that peaked through the dark curtains and she made her way across the room and pushed the curtains aside bathing it in the bright light of the sun. The curtains and sheets were a dark blue satin and the daybed that had been shoved into the corner was made of black iron and looked like it could either fit in a Harem or in a scene at a bondage club. The dark cherry bedside table had a black wrought iron lamp with a black shade with a beaded fringe. The top shelf held a book, lavender body lotion and pillow spray, along with a few hair ties and sleeping pills. The bottom shelf had a few small notebooks with a pen. Flipping through them she learned that they were all journals there was one for dreams, meditations and a personal one.

Lady made her way to the dresser. Two baskets sat before the mirror, one for make up and the other for lotions, deodorant, and body sprays. Then there was a small wooden jewelry box that held jewelry and more hair ties. There was also a hair brush, nail polish, hair spray, and other girlie odds and ends, only in a more goth style. Finally there was a small stero system that had a small groove for an ipod. The drawers held clothing

One of the two doors lead to a closet with dresses, skirts, and her school uniform hanging neatly on hangers with her shoes lined up neatly on the floor and her jackets hanging on hooks on the sides. The other door lead to a bathroom and had dark wicker cabinets with a sink made out of black porcelain and dark wood. There was a black wicker basket on the sink with shower gels, salts, and bubble bath stuff. There was no shower stall just a large, Victorian clawed bathtub in black like almost everything else. There was also a shower hose above it for when she takes a shower. Lady had a feeling the girl preferred baths based on the number of candles arranged on the wicker chest between the bath and the toilet.

All in all there was nothing to say that the girl was rather normal all things considered and there was nothing there to suggest she would have summoned whatever it was that had attacked her in the first place. Lady sighed and left the room meeting back with Trish at the bottom of the stairs.

"Find anything?" asked Trish.

"No. You?"

Trish smirked in a way that told Lady she had found something big. She smiled in answer and followed her partner to the front room. As Lady followed the other woman to the room the smell of a Catholic Church and flowers got stronger. When they entered the room it hit them full force and for some reason Lady felt relaxed, almost safe despite what had happened in the room the girl's blood still decorated some of the room.

"The smell leads to a downstairs work out room with gymnastics equipment."

"I thought we were going to explore the bottom floor together."

Trish shrugged and the two women looked at the small portrait of Mary on the far wall and it almost looked like she was crying tears of blood.

A few days later___________________________________________________________________

Mika sighed softly and pushed down the plaited skirt of her uniform, the dark blue cotton material rested a little below the black biking shorts she wore and matched the blazer with her school's emblem on the right breast pocket with gold buttons over her white blouse. She snagged her black tie from the hook and secured it around her neck. Adjusting her hair, which she had pulled into a braided bun, one last time she pulled her shoes on and slipped out the bedroom door, snagging her tote bag (that was currently doubling as her purse and school bag) on the way out as she could not use her school bag until her back was healed, which would be in about two weeks.

Her new bodyguards, she really didn't think they were necessary at school, she doubted whatever attacked her would do it in a room full of people, were waiting for her at the foot of the stairs as her uncle had already left to hand out a job to one of the other hunters that used him. The silver haired man, clad in red smirked up at her and she rolled her eyes heavenward. Her uncle had already warned her about his perverse nature.

"Ready to go, kid?" he asked, motioning for her to follow him when she nodded. "Well then let's get a move on; can't keep them waiting too long at school now can we?"

He lead them to his mustang convertible waiting outside, red really was his color wasn't it?


	2. Chapter 2

Fragments of a Dove 2

Author's Notes, Warnings, Inspirations, and Disclaimers: Just so that we are all on the same page and so that none of you can say I didn't warn you. This work of fiction contains material that is religious in nature and contains material that you may or may not agree with. Also this work contains hints of romance between two people that are eighteen years apart. This work will also contain characters that range along the religious spectrum of being extreme, laid back, hypocritical, and anywhere in between. If you are easily offended by works that show Christians in varying degrees of how they handle their faith personally and when in contact with others don't read this. Also if there are hints of incest in the past. The takes place between DMC 4 and DMC 2.

Characters/Orginizations of high note: Will be added to has the characters come into play

**Michael** (a female) – 18 year old girl who was conceived under unfavorable circumstances, the Dove that was prophesized, Morrison's niece, her friends call her Mika.

**Dante** - 36 years old, Devil Hunter who owns Devil May Cry and is hired by Morrison to protect his niece.

**Jasmine** – 18 years old, English-American, Islamic friend of Michael's. Being trained by her father, another Devil Hunter that gets his contracts from Morrison, to be a Devil Hunter as well. Her family knows just about anyone who is anyone if every branch of the military and government officials in numerous countries.

**Lilith** – 18 years old, a Cheerleader friend of Mika and Jasmine. Practices Wicca behind her parents' back and can't wait to graduate from High School so she can move to a new town and live without fear.

**Trish** – ? years old Dante's old partner, clone of his mother and was at one time Mundus' puppet, as the ability to control over lighting and uses his father's old guns. How exactly do you count the clone years?

**Lady** – 35 years old, at one time she went by Mary; that is until after her father murdered her mother. She is the resident fire arms, lore, legends both urban and not, and bomb expert, a former gymnast, and thanks to her late mother's family can get just about anywhere with no one being the wiser.

**Morrison** – 37 years old, One of Dante's Agents and Michael's Uncle. If Lady can't get the transportation together to a job he can.  
**Julius** – 20 year old male that is in control of one of the groups that wants to control Mika.

Also I think Morrison is his last name so I am naming him Gabriel for his first name.

This story was somewhat inspired by the movie Stigmata.

Any characters or ideas that are owned by CAPCOM are not owned by me.

Thanks: Nikkiwalker, Sidrah, Jamie and Cerridwenn who were a great help with this plot. Also many thanks to a friend of mine from High School Nat, who helped me with various things pertaining to the Mika's character in regards to her mental state and handling being attacked by her mom and other things of that nature.

When Dante pulled into the school parking lot, Mika let out the breath she had been holding since they had gotten onto the road, the man drove like a bat outta hell, if not worse. His convertible hit the curb, barely missed a favored football player of the school, and took the so-called parking spot that belonged to the quarter back before the male, himself pulled into it. Ignoring the honking and cursing from the younger male Dante opened his door and pulled his seat back so that Mika could get out while Trish just climbed out of the back seat and Lady got out of the passenger side.

"Haven't even been here one day and you've already pissed off the most popular boy in school and nearly ran down one of his buds," commented Mika as Dante draped an arm around her shoulders careful not to hurt her back.

"What can I say Babe," smiled Dante, chuckling down at the girl as he glanced back at the fuming boys. "All in a day's work."

"They're going to come after you, you know that right?" she asked.

"They can try," laughed Dante, strolling into the school with her.

The school doors shut, drowning out the curses of the two teenaged males.

The moment Dante entered the main hall of the school he was hit by the smell of hormones, sex, drugs, alcohol, perfume, cologne, and teenagers in general. Ah high school, how much he had forgotten how much the dumb ass punks were obsessed with sex, drugs, alcohol, and rock and roll. Not that he could talk of course about everything save for the drugs, he might have been a punk in his younger years but he had enough sense not to do drugs. About a quarter of the student body was already infested with some STD or another. They were starting younger and younger it seemed where sex was concerned. Half the kids were virgins the other half weren't, some of the virgin girls were wearing chastity rings. He saw no reason for the rings, if you choose to be chaste until marriage it was your own damn business and whatever deity it is you worshipped, besides just because you wore the ring didn't mean you believed it. A few of the students wearing rings weren't virgins, some were currently sexual active so he didn't see the point in them wearing rings if they weren't going to abide by them.

Dante followed the girl to her locker, where he leaned against the wall next to it and watched her take out a notebook and biology book. His female partners were in the office dealing with the school officials over the three of them being there. They were joined by Lilith who had put her hair up into a long French braid down her back, evidently this was sex education month at the school and the topic of this week was STDs and the girls were making bets whether or not their teacher, Father O'Railey, would bring in color pictures.

"What would a priest know about sex if he was really celibate," muttered Dante.

"Plenty if he's a widower," responded Lilith walking backwards. "He was married, has three children, and eleven grandchildren and lost his wife to cancer before becoming a priest."

"How did he get his hands on these pictures you guys are talking about?" asked Dante, in amusement.

"His son is a doctor at a hospital that also works with patients that have STDs at some free clinics," said Mika, while Lilith turned back around. "So, several years ago he sent Father O' Railey photos of STDs to use in the STD classes. So every year he sends his father new photos, information, and pamphlets regarding STDs for him to hand out in class."

"I didn't think most parents wanted their kids learning about sex," said Lady, coming up to walk beside them with Trish.

"Well," said Mika. "Some parents don't want their kids to learn about sex. In that case they can just sign their children up for a biology class that just talks about sexual reproductive organs."

"Yeah," snorted Dante. "That'll stop them from having sex."

"Oh come on Dante," said Trish smirking a bit. "Let the parents think their children are pure angels."

Mika snickered when a group of football players stood between her group and the door to the biology room.

"This isn't good," muttered Mika, eyeing the line of junior varsity football players wearily.

"Anything you wanna tell me?" whispered Lilith.

"Dante almost ran over a football player and took the Varsity Captain's wannabe spot."

"Oh shit," whispered Lilith, before perking up. "This'll be fun."

Mika sighed and shook her head before turning around to face the varsity football team who parted like the Red Sea for the Captain. Dante's smirk grew wider and he chuckled softly, oh how he was going to enjoy this. He liked nothing more then turning little, wannabe punks into fools and children.

"What do you want kid?" he asked in amusement, breaking the silence in the halls.

"You took my spot you bastard!" he snapped.

"I didn't see your name on it kid," chuckled Dante.

"Look," snapped the Captain. "That was my spot, it as always been my spot and it will always be my spot until I graduate. It was passed down to me by my big brother, the former captain of the football team."

"Is he serious?" asked Trish, quietly to Mika.

"Sadly yes," muttered Mika. "To Ken and his family being the captain of the football team is the ultimate. Just about every male in their family has been the captain at one point or another."

"Wow," whistled Lady.

"Then they all go on to work in the family business."

"Do they actually have free will at all?"

"That's debatable," said Lilith. "The family doctors are trying to figure out if they were screwed over in that department, evidently they can't find the gene for free will anywhere in them."

"They did get screwed over."

"Along with the rest of us by default," agreed Mika softly.

"Tough luck kid," grinned Dante, in a way that caused several female students and a few teachers to giggle. "First come, first serve and all that. Hey princess," he said, turning to face Mika. "Who is this punk?"

"His name is Ken Masters and he's the captain of the varsity football team, he treats the varsity and junior varsity like his own mafia family only without the perks."

"Oh yeah the wannabe punk in the black BMW," chuckled Dante, causing more giggles. "Go away kid you're bothering me."

"Don't call me kid!"

"What else should I call you, kid?" asked Dante, his lips twisting into a slight masochistic smirk. He was really going to enjoy messing with the twerp. "How about pussy, wannabe, twerp, or maybe even jockey?"

"Shut up!" shouted Ken, when snickering could be heard. "You cocky bastard!"

"At least I have a reason to be," chuckled Dante. "What's with the supped up car, kid trying to overcompensate for something your rather deficient in?"

Ken's face turned red from both rage and embarrassment as more snickering filled the hallways from his fellow students and to his rage and slight horror, his fellow football players. He was about to respond when the door right next to him slammed open and Father O'Railey stared at the scene behind wire-rimmed glasses.

"Hello Father O'Railey," the hallway chorused.

"Why aren't all of you in class?" asked the old priest.

"He took my spot!" sputtered Ken, pointing an outraged finger at Dante, who just continued to smile annoyingly at him.

The old priest turned his gray eyes toward the student.

"May I remind you Mr. Masters that you are a student and even if you are a senior and the Quarterback of the varsity football team that doesn't mean you have a designated spot. Get over it and get to class, I expect my students to be in the classroom and in their seats in the next minute. If you are not then I will assign you all an STD to research, write, and paper and then give a powerpoint presentation on in two weeks."

"Oh good God no," panicked someone in the crowd, though it was kinda hard to tell if he was joking or not. "Anything but that!"

"MOVE!"

Everyone moved on to their classrooms and Father O'Mailey's biology class was settled down before they could be given the threatened STD research project.

"Now," the old priest began, setting up his slideshow presentation and showing a colored picture of genital warts on the tongue to the class who all cringed and commented on how gross the picture was. "This is what we call genital warts, this is what it looks like on the tongue after you have given a blow job to someone infected with the STD. Now, all of your parents have signed release form clearing us of scaring your so-called pure, virgin minds from horrifying scaring. Don't deny it I was your age one time and I remember exactly what it felt like to have hormones and want to constantly have sex."

"This is the strangest priest," muttered Dante, in amusement.

"Therefore," continued the priest. "I am now going to show you pictures of what they look like on human genitalia."

"He wouldn't," began Lady.

"He would," muttered Trish, the moment the projector screen was filled with two pictures one each of what genital warts looked like on the genitalia of either sex. "That is so disgusting."

For a moment the room was silent and then once the shock had worn off the entire room burst into an uproar of laughter, declarations of disgust, and a few students who were jumping up and down as if someone had thrown something on them. This is how the rest of the class period proceeded with several students looking extremely sick by the end of the class and thanking God that they hadn't had lunch yet and some wishing they didn't have lunch next.

Teenagers, Dante decided never did change in the long run.

By the time noon rolled around it was lunch time and the two girls decided to eat outside. They lead Mika's bodyguards to a small grouping of picnic benches under a group of trees. Lilith and Mika took a picnic table farthest from the school, with the three adults taking one not far from them to eat their own lunch, Dante and Lady still had nightmares about the school lunches when they were in school. It was ten minutes into the lunch time when Dante started to notice something moving in the trees over head. He and the two female devil hunters were already on their feet and moving towards the girls. Mika was already looking up in the trees, her hand slowly reaching to grab the brunette with her just in case. He had to admit that the girl had the look of someone who had been attacked before in the past but wasn't used to the feeling. Dante and Trish had already pulled the girls away from the bench, shoving them behind them and drawing their guns with Lady also pulling out one of her own; when the first shots riddled the picnic table.

"Oh my God!" hissed the younger blonde behind him.

"What the fuck was that?" shrieked Lilith.

"Lady, Trish," snapped Dante, shoving Mika towards the black haired devil hunter. "Make sure the students get inside!"

Lady grabbed Mika's wrist and started to hurry her towards the school, Lilith and Trish right behind them, but more bullets cut them off. The two female Devil hunters pushed the girls behind them only to realize that there were people behind them, they were soon surrounded. Whoever it was that had been up in the trees landed on the ground surrounding them after Lady ordered the teachers to get the other kids in the school. After all they were after Mika, not the other students and she didn't want to risk a hostage situation if she could help it. She and the others could take care of the two girls. Speaking of the two girls, they were both scared but Mika was trying to stay calm and the forced calm seemed to help Lilith stay calm.

There was one man that seemed to be the leader of the group. His reddish-blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck, cold amber eyes stared out at them from behind his bangs, and his lanky body was clothed in black jeans, over a pair of dark brown combat boots, a white shirt and a black bomber jacket. One of his ears had silver hoops going up along it and the other was absent of any earrings at all. Around his neck was a leather string and from that hung a chunk of quartz clutched in the grasp of a bird's claw. His eyes scanned the small group of people before landing on the blond teenager.

"Lady Michael Morrison I presume?" he asked, giving her a charming smile.

"Who are you?" asked Lady, stepping closer to the girl. "And what do you want with the girl?"

"Not only that but why did you call her Lady?" asked Lilith, pulling her friend against her.

"My name," answered the strange male in a tone bordering somewhere between dangerous obsession and reverence. "Is Julius I believe that should answer your first question and to answer the second question I call her that because she is the one that will bring destruction to this world or salvation depending on who as control of her and of course what her wish just so happens to be. To stop the world from being destroyed by those that want to destroy it we need to destroy her."

"Sorry kid," smirked Dante. "But I'm afraid the princess can't play with you, today or any day, she's too busy playing with me."

"The Devil Hunter Dante I presume?" asked Julius giving the silver haired male a sweeping look. "I have heard great tales of you. You have my gratitude for murdering all those demons and has a fellow devil hunter I would think you would appreciate what I am trying to do for this world by destroying its greatest threat in that girl."

"Sorry," smiled Dante. "I can sense a lot of things about this girl but wanting to destroy this world isn't one of them."

"Are you sure it is not something else telling you the girl doesn't want to destroy the world. One of the other things you are well known for is that you sleep with just about any woman."

"What does that have to do with anything? I might be a lot of things, but one of them isn't the sort of bastard that is up for letting you kill an innocent girl."

"No one in innocent."

"Then what gives you the right to kill her off? If you are so obsessed with murdering non-innocents start with purging the world of your own filth."

"But if I purge the world of myself who shall purge the world of those who are not innocent in the eyes of the Lord?"

"The man's fucking insane!" hissed Lilith, grabbing at Mika's wrist and pulling her farther away from the man.

"No shit!" hissed Michael back.

"I will ask you one more time," said Julius, reaching out a hand for the girl. "Hand over the girl so that I might save this world."

"If you were so convinced this world is full of sin, I would almost think you would want to see it cleansed."

"Perhaps, but I love this world and I would hate to see it destroyed, when it has so many possibilities."

"I am not letting you anywhere near the blondie," chuckled Dante. "After all that'd really mess things up for her, with me being hired to take protect her and all. If I just hand her over to then her uncle, my agent, wouldn't be too thrilled with me."

"I take it you have no intention of handing her over to me than?"

"Not a chance kid."

"How disappointing," said the man, reaching for the sword strapped to his back. "I guess we will just have to do this the hard way."

"Sounds like a plan," smirked Dante, reaching for his guns since he had left his sword at home. "Let's play. Lady get the girl's outta here!"

Lady nodded and started firing at some of the men bringing them to their knees and disabling their arms before running towards the side entrance of the school. Others follow them while the main group goes after Dante and Trish.

Lady dashed to meet the small group moving for them head on and shouted at the two girls to, "get their fucking asses into the school."

Two of the men broke away from the smeller group and went after the two teenagers. Lilith shrieked when they landed in front of them and the heel of her hand shot up and connected with one of their noses. Mika's knee shot out and she slammed her knee into the other one's stomach, while her friend slammed her foot into the groin of the guy holding his nose. The brunette promptly shoved her attacker to the side so that he landed on the ground holding his crotch while the blonde punched her own. The girls grabbed each other before Julius appeared before them, kicking Lilith to the side and grabbing Mika by her throat.

Mika's hands clawed at his hands and her feet kicked out at his stomach. A gunshot rang out, catching the man in the shoulder and he spun, throwing the girl into the trunk of a tree and the last thing she remembered before passing out was the sound of more gun shots, the wail of sirens, and the unmistakable smell of leather and gunpowder.

Dream###############################################################

She was back in the mythical garden of Eden again, at least that's where she assumed she had been waking up in lately. It was either Eden or some elaborate and possibly clichéd scenario were the devil was screwing with her mind in a plot to corrupt her into doing his bidding. In which case if that were the plot then she probably needed to start looking for the movie cameras filming this grade B piece of crap that they were going to market as a movie.

The snake was singing again and she tilted her head slightly trying to figure out where it came from this time, she hadn't woken up in the same spot, and once she had that figured out she started in the direction of the song until she found saw the large tree she had seen the snake in the last time.

"Tell me little Dove," hissed a singing voice that seemed to be both in the distance and all around her. "What will you do? Will you cry and hide? Will you stand and fight? What will you do? The devil's son makes his way. The angel's son wants to play. What will you do?"

"I've heard that song before Serpent," she said coming to stand under the tree beneath him. "Don't you know any other tunes?"

"Such a pity little Dove," the snake continued to sing. "What will you do? When you learn that sometimes a gift is a curse? What will you do? What will you do? Will you continue or die? Tell me lovely Dove what will you do? You have the whips of the Godchild on your back; but much more is there for you to gain. When the light flickers and begins to die can you rekindle it? You can do much more with your hands. What will you do? Show me how much you love this world. Show me how much you love this world. What will you do when the choice is brought to you? The choice is up to you."

"Can my choice be that you stop singing in riddles?" asked Mika, as she rolled her wrists in an unconscious gesture almost as if they were bothering her.

"This is not the time for jokes little Dove."

"My name is Mika."

"Little Dove," continued the Serpent as if she hadn't spoken. "The time is coming."

"What is?"

"The time is coming," repeated the serpent.

Mika opened her mouth to speak but the serpent cut her off.

"Time to wake up little Dove."

End Dream#####################################################

When she woke up she saw Dante staring down at her while dabbing at her bleeding forehead with one of Lilith's handkerchiefs.

"You awake kid?" he asked, while in the background Lady and Trish gave reports to the local Leos.

"Yeah," she muttered, letting Dante help her up.

Dante then turned a curious look to the brunette who was bouncing on her toes next to Mika, who was looking rather annoyed as she held the handkerchief against her bleeding forehead by herself. That is until one of the medics came and placed a bandage on it.

"So kid where exactly did you learn that?"

"Last summer I went to cheerleading camp and we were given self defense lessons before cheerleading practice began!" she chirped happily. "I was voted the most insanely lethal as well as the most perky."

"There's a shocker," muttered Mika, placing the hand that wasn't holding the handkerchief to her forehead on her friend's head hoping she would get the picture.

She didn't.

Mika rolled her eyes as the nurse came out showing the EMTs and the police to the scene. Dante prepared to give a sugar coated version of what had happened. He doubted they would believe some ancient society of whack jobs showed up for the sole purpose of kidnapping and/or murdering the blonde he was protecting.

Dante followed Mika, with a bandage on her forehead, and Lilith to their math class, after filling out the police reports, Trish had gone off to try to track down the survivors of the attack at lunch and Lady was getting in touch with her contacts and doing research on the symbol. He leaned against the wall in the back of the classroom, making sure to keep the blonde in full view at all times. He watched the girls chat, about the test next period while waiting for the bell to ring, their conversation was joined by a few other students who had class with them as well. The bell rang at the exact moment a man in his forties walked into the room. The man had a slender build with sharp gray eyes, hidden behind glasses, and salt and pepper hair. Dante watched in amusement as the man did a double take on him before walking to the front of the classroom.

Dante's eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed Mika, hunker down slightly and brought her hand to her nose. He moved slightly to get a better look at her and frowned slightly when he noticed that she was slightly paler then before, a paleness that rivaled the color she was in the hospital, and she looked almost sick. Lilith leaned forward and their whispered words could be heard.

Michael wrinkled her nose in disgust slightly and brought her hand up to her mouth out of reflex when she smelled the scent of something sweet decaying. Why did she want to gag?

"Are you alright?" whispered Lilith, breaking into her thoughts.

"Yeah," whispered Mika softly, despite the fact that she continued to look almost sick to her stomach. "I just feel slightly nauseous all of the sudden, I can't explain it."

"Maybe you didn't eat enough when you took your pain killers," muttered Lilith in concern, her brown eyes stared into her friend's green ones. "Do you want me to see about taking you to the nurse?"

"No," said Mika. "I'm fine, promise."

"I'm glad to see you are doing well Miss. Morrison," smiled the math teacher, who was now standing in front of her.

"Thank you Mr. Smith," said Mika, though her smile looked a bit forced and she still looked like she wanted to throw up.

"Are you still in pain?"

"Only a little," answered the blonde girl, shifting in her seat slightly and grimacing.

"Well, that's not good at all," he commented, looking down at the girl in concern. "You really should try to take better care of yourself. We don't want you back in the hospital, now do we?"

"No, Mr. Smith," answered Mika, swallowing the bile in her throat. "I'll do my best."

"Good," smiled the math teacher, before turning to walk to the front of the room and began class.

Dante watched the girl's breathing ease up and her shoulders relax from their tightened position she seemed to have a better color now that the teacher was at the front of the class instead of right next to her. She still however, looked like she had just gotten a whiff of rotting fruit. How curious. Surely the man's cologne wasn't that bad? Mr. Smith's cologne didn't smell that good but surely she wasn't sensitive enough to the smell that it made her sick to her stomach.

He couldn't help but wonder what exactly was causing her reaction to the man, if it wasn't the cologne.

He had to admit he was surprised when the girl managed to make it through the rest of the class before she grabbed her stuff, threw it haphazardly into her school bag and took off for the bathroom. Lilith and Dante were hot on her heels and the rest of the class just looked at her, with Mr. Smith having a small frown on his face.

Mika threw the door to the bathroom open and dropped to her knees in a stall, seconds before she emptied the contents of her stomach into the bowl. Lilith was right behind her, rubbing her back in soothing circles and Dante was waiting outside in the hall for them, leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Mr. Smith walked in his direction and almost went into the bathroom before Dante stopped him.

"Where do you think your goin man?" he asked, putting a hand on the other man's chest and holding him from the door.

"I am simply going to see if Miss. Morrison is alright," he smiled charmingly at Dante.

Yeah right ya fuckin bastard, thought Dante.

"Her friend, Lilith, is taking care of her," said Dante. "I am sure she can do that just fine without you."

"Of course," smiled the math teacher. "Pastor Owen's daughter is a wonderful girl and I am sure she will be in good hands. By the way, I don't believe we've meet. My name is Patrick Smith."

Dante stared at the offered hand for a moment before he smiled in amusement as he offered his hand for a brief shake, squeezing the other man's hand a little too hard and smirking in male satisfaction when the teacher winced, before retracting it back to his chest, "Dante."

"I see and what may I ask is your connection to Miss. Morrison?"

"Her uncle hired me to protect her," said Dante.

"From who?" asked the other man, his voice filled with concern.

"That's none of your concern," stated Dante, shifting slightly and glaring at the other male. "What is my concern however is what you think you're doing going into the girl's bathroom when my charge is in there with her best friend."

"I was just worried about her is all," smiled the teacher.

"Why didn't you get a female teacher to check on her?" asked Dante, as he moved to stand between the other man and the door to the bathroom.

"You're right, I should have done that. I guess I wasn't thinking properly."

"Guess not."

Dante could smell the decaying odor of lust coming off the man, if he wasn't so used to the scent he's own stomach would be heaving and if he didn't know any better he'd say that's what was making the girl sick. The teacher was waiting for Dante to say something else or maybe he was waiting for him to move and the devil hunter wasn't about to give in to him. He turned slightly when the door opened and Lilith was standing there with Mika behind her.

"Mr. Smith," she said, peering at her teacher from behind Dante. "What are you doing?"

"I was just coming to see how Miss. Morrison was doing," he smiled. "I hope she's alright."

"She's fine," said Lilith, moving slightly closer to Dante her hand gripping Mika's wrist and keeping her friend and her teacher as far away from each other as possible. "Excuse us we have to get to class and we're going to be late."

The brunette dashed off dragging Mika with her and Dante nodded at the other man before following them, the trio entered the next class the moment the bell rang.


	3. Chapter 3

Fragments of a Dove 3

Author's Notes, Warnings, Inspirations, and Disclaimers: Just so that we are all on the same page and so that none of you can say I didn't warn you. This work of fiction contains material that is religious in nature and contains material that you may or may not agree with. Also this work contains hints of romance between two people that are eighteen years apart. This work will also contain characters that range along the religious spectrum of being extreme, laid back, hypocritical, and anywhere in between. If you are easily offended by works that show Christians in varying degrees of how they handle their faith personally and when in contact with others don't read this. Also if there are hints of incest in the past. The takes place between DMC 4 and DMC 2.

Characters/Orginizations of high note: Will be added to has the characters come into play

**Michael** (a female) – 18 year old girl who was conceived under unfavorable circumstances, the Dove that was prophesized, Morrison's niece, her friends call her Mika.

**Dante** - 36 years old, Devil Hunter who owns Devil May Cry and is hired by Morrison to protect his niece.

**Jasmine** – 18 years old, English-American, Islamic friend of Michael's. Being trained by her father, another Devil Hunter that gets his contracts from Morrison, to be a Devil Hunter as well. Her family knows just about anyone who is anyone if every branch of the military and government officials in numerous countries.

**Lilith** – 18 years old, a Cheerleader friend of Mika and Jasmine. Practices Wicca behind her parents' back and can't wait to graduate from High School so she can move to a new town and live without fear.

**Trish** – ? years old Dante's old partner, clone of his mother and was at one time Mundus' puppet, as the ability to control over lighting and uses his father's old guns. How exactly do you count the clone years?

**Lady** – 35 years old, at one time she went by Mary; that is until after her father murdered her mother. She is the resident fire arms, lore, legends both urban and not, and bomb expert, a former gymnast, and thanks to her late mother's family can get just about anywhere with no one being the wiser.

**Morrison** – 37 years old, One of Dante's Agents and Michael's Uncle. If Lady can't get the transportation together to a job he can.  
**Julius** – 20 year old male that is in control of one of the groups that wants to control Mika.

Also I think Morrison is his last name so I am naming him Gabriel for his first name.

This story was somewhat inspired by the movie Stigmata.

Any characters or ideas that are owned by CAPCOM are not owned by me.

Thanks: Nikkiwalker, Sidrah, Jamie, kitsunefyuu, and Cerridwenn who were a great help with this plot. Also many thanks to a friend of mine from High School Nat, who helped me with various things pertaining to the Mika's character in regards to her mental state and handling being attacked by her mom and other things of that nature.

______________________________________________________________________________________

The steam was coming into the bedroom from the adjoining bathroom and from within the steam candles were flickering and providing light for the brunette in the shower. Fiona Horne's Witch Web Cd was playing on the stereo system from its place on the tall, oak dresser. After awhile the shower turned off and the brunette entered her bedroom, wrapped in a large, fluffy white towel as she towel dried her hair with another one. She crossed the room, tossing the wet towel that she used to dry her hair in the hamper, to turn the volume up on her stereo system, thankfully that her parents were at her friend's house for dinner and would not return until close to midnight. She crossed to her windows and closed the drapes against any of her nosey neighbors, before returning to her dresser for her night clothes that she quickly changed into for the night.

Lilith was heading down the steps has she pulled her long hair up into a messy bun and made her way into the kitchen. She snagged one of the trays that her mother used to take her father his meals when he was sick. She placed it on the island in the middle of the kitchen and moved around gathering things she needed for tonight like salt, a water bottle, grape juice, and some of her mother's shortbread cookie, all of which she took to her bedroom, but not before she placed a mug of water into the microwave to heat up. Placing the tray on her vanity she grabbed a bronze key from the jewelry box and moved to the oak, hope chest at the food of her bed and unlocked it so she could open it and remove the items she needed. There were lavender colored candles that came in all sizes which she placed beside her to remove two of her glass bowls, the box that had her chalice, a silver pentacle, a few agate crystals, some candleholders for her taper candles, an incense holder, tarot deck, a stick of incense, her black handled athame, a package of mugwort, and her nude statue of Lilith with a green snake coiled around her body and a red apple in her right hand. She closed her chest with a soft thud and placed everything on top of it the moment the microwave beeped in the kitchen.

She headed to the kitchen and retrieved her mug of now hot water, before carefully carrying it to her bedroom. In her bedroom she spooned some of the herbs into a diffuser that she dunked into the mug of water before leaving it on her vanity to set up her room. She started by setting her lavender colored candles and the candle holders around the room, being sure to place one candle on her bed's large, oak headboard. She placed her bowls on the hope chest, one in the north and the other in the west, the northern bowl was filled with salt and the western one with water. Her incense holder with the incense stick was placed on the eastern side of her chest; while she placed her athame on the edge nearest the bed. Her pentacle was placed in the center with her deck placed on top of it and her chalice, now filled with the juice, was placed next to the water. The statue she placed above the pentacle, between it and the bowl of salt, and her crystals she placed randomly on the altar.

When all was ready she set about lighting the candles using a long match that was used to light fireplaces and then the incense before returning off the lights. She turned to survey the room and smiled in satisfaction, it almost looked like a scene set for romance. The smile still on her face she picked up her mug of mugwort tea and drank it down. She then returned to her hope chest, cupped her hands over the incense, closed her eyes and saw it being surrounded by white light, before she picked it up and went to stand in the middle of the room. She closed her eyes again and held it before her, closed her eyes while she inhaled the scent, and imagined it filling the room with its smoke.

"By the power of air," she breathed. "This space is cleansed and concentrated."

She returned the incense to its holder and cupped her hands over the bowl of salt sensing the white light surrounding it before picking up the bowl and returning to the center of the room, throwing it out around her in a circular motion.

"By the power of earth, this space is cleansed and concentrated."

Returning the salt to its place, she dropped three pinches of salt into the water and stirred it three times, clockwise, with her index finger of her left hand, which her main hand, before placing her cupped hands over it and once again imagined it being filled with the white light; finally she picked up the bowl of water and carefully moved to the center of the room sprinkling the room in a circular motion with the water.

"By the power of water, this space is cleansed and concentrated."

With that said she returned the water to the chalice and picked up the large pillar candle on the headboard and once again returned to the center of the room, holding the candle before her she closed her eyes and imagined the fire filling the room.

"By the power of fire, this space is cleansed and concentrated."

Replacing the candle, she returned to the center of the room a final time and held her hands above her head, palms facing upwards, as she closed her eyes and focused her energy into her hands, before spreading outwards and encompassing the room in a glow.

"By the power of spirit, this space is cleansed and concentrated."

She returned to her bed and sat cross legged on the edge of it, picking up her athame from where it was placed on the altar and held it before her. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply three times, opened her eyes and stared at the tip of her athame as she felt a tingling surround her body, flow along her arm and into the athame. The air around its tip began to shift slightly, almost like it seemed to on a hot day when the heat would rise from the sidewalk, the shifting air formed what she could only describe has a ribbon of power that circled the room three times, before spreading to the ceiling and air to form a sphere within the room. She closed her eyes again and once more breathed deeply three times before opening her eyes again preparing to call the corners.

"Hail and welcome to the guardians of the watchtowers of Earth," she began. "By the powers of fertility and abundance, I invite thee." She moved her arm to the left called upon another corner. "Hail and welcome to the guardians of the watchtowers of Water, by the powers of emotion and perception, I invite thee." She twisted her body to point behind her. "Hail and welcome to the guardians of the watchtowers of Fire, by the powers of passion and destruction, I invite thee." She pointed the athame to the right. "Hail and welcome to the guardians of the watchtowers of Air, by the powers of healing and control I invite thee." Finally she pointed the athame over her head. "Hail and Welcome to the Father and Mother of this universe, whose songs brought us all into being, and to my patroness and namesake Lilith."

With that completed she replaced the athame and picked up her deck of tarot cards, shuffling them, she replaced them on the altar and took a moment to clear her mind of everything but the question at hand. That done she pulled her cards one by one until she got her answer.

Elsewhere______________________________________________________________________________

Mika was staring at her reflection, her wet hair sticking to her face and body, fingering the thin scar on her chest that her mother had given her thirteen years ago. She frowned slightly, before pulling up her bra strap and pulling on her sweatshirt and heading downstairs to get something to drink. The devil hunters were there with her uncle drinking beer at the dining room table, the kitchen still smelled of their chili dinner, she bypassed them and headed towards the refrigerator for a bottle of water. It felt strange, normally by now she'd be practicing her gymnastics but her doctor said to avoid it for the time being. She felt energized from the normal energy she used up from her practice and she couldn't keep still, she continued to shift while she watched her uncle and his friends play poker, the silver haired male was losing and evidently he did it on a regular basis.

"Dante," sighed Morrison, tossing his ace onto the table to complete his royal straight flush. "I can honestly say you suck. I win again."

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Dante, tossing his cards onto the table. "What's up princess, finish your homework already?"

"I finished it an hour ago, genius I just got done taking a shower. Or did you not notice the sound of the shower going and my wet hair because you were so busy losing to my uncle, again apparently?"

"How's your back Mika?" asked Morrison, cutting into the conversation and exhaling a stream of cigarette smoke from his mouth.

"Its fine," answered Mika, shrugging her shoulders out of instinct before wincing as the stitches pulled at her back. "The painkillers are doing their job for the most part. I'm going back to my room."

"Don't even think about it Dante," she heard her uncle say as she went up the stairs to her room.

"She's legal."

"I'll kill you," snapped Morrison.

"Just kidding," chuckled Dante, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, right," muttered Morrison. "I know you too well. Just keep your hands off my niece and her friends come to think of it."

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Dante. "So who's for another hand of cards?"

"I think you'd better stop," said Morrison, taking a puff of his cigarette. "Anymore and you'll be the one paying from Mika's college, instead of me."

"Only if he actually pays you," sighed Trish, gathering up the cards to shuffle them. "Besides, he'd have to pay off all his other debts first."

Dante snorted and picked up his cards to play another hand.

"You never learn," sighed Morrison, finishing off the last of his cigarette as muffled music drifted from his niece's room.

Mika sighed and turned her stereo on so that her Kerli CD was playing, returned to her mirror, placed her bottle of water down, picked up her brush and slowly began to brush out her damp hair, being careful not to pull too much on the stitches. Placing the brush back down on the vanity she slipped her long hair into a ponytail at the base of her neck. She paced the length of her room, spinning on her toes on occasion, hoping to lose some of the pent up energy. Her back started to tinge slightly and she shifted her shoulders a bit, unaware that the vanity mirror's reflection was rippling like a pool of water and a hand started to reach out towards her.

Lilith's___________________________________________________________________________

Lilith turned over the first card of her deck, to find the card that would represent the silver-haired Devil Hunter Dante, the card that came up was The Emperor, number four in the Major Arcana. To be honest she had rather thought that Gabriel would receive this card based on how protective he was of his niece and her and Jasmine. But considering it was the mercenary Dante it was a rather fitting description under the circumstances since he had been hired to protect Mika and not only that there was something off about him that somewhat bothered Lilith. The card represented power in some ways and the willingness to fight for what he believed in.

Morrison's_____________________________________________________________________________

Dante cursed and threw down his cards as Lady laughed and gathered up the cards, Trish had won this round.

"I'm going to take a leak," muttered Dante, getting up from his chair and heading upstairs towards the bathroom.

Lady and Trish both groan and shake their heads. The two female devil hunters started gathering up the remnants of the poker game while they started muttering under their breath about Dante and his tendency to delivery WAY too much information.

"I'm going to check on Mika," said Morrison, getting to his feet and following the younger male up to his niece's bedroom.

Morrison entered into his niece's bedroom and his eyes widened the moment he saw the demon entering into the bedroom through the mirror.

"Mika!"

The blonde whirled around as her uncle reached for her, the moment a blast of energy shot passed her and propelled her uncle back out into the hall; where he hit the wall with crash and lay in a heap on the floor.

"Uncle Gabe!" she shrieked and lunged forward after him, only to be grabbed by the demon coming from her mirror.

The demon wrapped his fingers, that were longer then Freddy Kreuger's nails or whatever the hell those things were, around her body and evidently the hands were far more larger. She squirmed in an attempt to get out of its grasp and gasped in pain when it tightened its grip on her. She screamed as she was propelled backwards towards the mirror, expecting to feel the impact any minute now, there was sharp pain but no blood and the last thing she was Dante reaching for her before she found herself staring at her distorted reflection that overlapped Dante's image from the other side and darkness claimed her.

Lilith's_______________________________________________________________________________

Lilith drew another card, this one for Mika, and this time she drew The Empress, the third trump card in the Major Arcana. It was interesting that her friend should be the Empress and her bodyguard the Emperor, she wondered briefly if there was something else to the connection, after all the Emperor and the Empress ruled side by side. A woman or girl who represents growth, prosperity, and fertility, she will bring forth happy endings to all matters and with the guarantee of good rewards for not only work but effort as well. She will also bring the situation to fruition. It is a card that provides a nurturing presence no matter what the form and can see that any potential at all can be fulfilled, not only in creative and work areas but also where children and family are involved.

The Empress card can also symbolize childbirth, motherhood, or birth along with a solid, happy relationship like marriage. Lilith hoped that this was not in Mika's immediate future.

With Mika_____________________________________________________________________________

When Mika woke up she found herself in Eden once again, shifting slightly in pain she slowly stumbled to her feet and pulled up her sweatshirt to exam the large bruise around her midsection, as if she wasn't in enough pain. She cursed and let the sweatshirt drop, making her way to the middle of the garden, heading towards the tree of life. The serpent was there, once more wrapped around the branches of the legendary Tree of Knowledge. The First, in her Lilith form, was kneeling at its base what looked like half a cantaloupe in her hand and she was rubbing a stick inside it.

What was she doing?

"Lilith?" she asked, stepping up to her and seeing that the cantaloupe half was hollowed out and the woman was making paste inside it. "What are you doing?"

"Lift up your shirt Michael Morrison."

"Um, yeah sure," said the younger female, lifting up her shirt to reveal her bruised stomach.

The other woman began to rub the ointment along the bruises.

"You are in danger Michael Morrison," said the Serpent from its place by her right shoulder.

"But do not worry," smiled the older female, taking on the form of Eve as she finished putting on the ointment. "He is coming for you."

"He?"

"Michael Morrison," shouted the voices of the First and the Serpent. "Wake up! YOU MUST WAKE UP!"

Michael's eyes snapped open the moment a demon's hand came towards and with a shriek she rolled to the side before it managed to flatten her. Scrambling to her feet she ran down a path, barely taking in the strange landscape before she came to a stop when she felt she was safe.

"What the hell?" she breathed, looking around her.

The landscape reminded her almost of Eden only darker and nearly perverted in nature. The green of the leaves and other foliage were darker and there were other strange colors for some of the plants such as dark blues, purples, and reds. The sky above her was darker too the color of the sky reminded her a lot of the dried blood and the clouds were a dark burgundy. The tree barks and their branches reminded her of obsidian stones. The dark green vines that wrapped around the tree trunks shimmered and there were large thorns attached to them. She started wondering aimlessly continuing to follow the path she had randomly chosen when she ran away from the demons.

A rustling sound made her freeze and she turned her attention towards it, just in time for large ruby colored vines to wrap around her, their thorns digging into her skin, towards her bone. Her screams echoed in the sky.

Lilith's______________________________________________________________________________

Lilith reached once more for her deck of Tarot cards, this time drawing the High Priestess for her. The card represents mysteries and secrets that indicate that the situation or matter as far more hidden depths then you can even begin to imagine at this point in time. It can also show you a secret that is about to become known to you depending on what other cards are drawn and the secret would be of great benefit to you. But for now all that is needed is that you follow your own intuition and trust your instincts. There is also a potential that has yet to be explored and can be enjoyed greatly in the future.

In the Mirror____________________________________________________________________________

Dante got to his feet and dusted off his jacket in annoyance. He was thankful that Lady and Trish had been able to hand over his weapons before he disappeared into the mirror. Sheathing his sword and holstering his gun he made his way down the first path he saw. This place was a lot like almost like the fabled Wonderland on either crack or acid, possibly both. He continued walking, taking in the area around him. This was definitely not a place he wanted to stay in for long. There was no telling what would happen someone in this world, body or mind.

He paused in his steps when more rustling could be heard and he slowly drew his guns, aiming them in the direction of the sound. Vines wrapped around his leg, digging into the leather of his boot but not breaking through to the skin, and he shut up to the bloodied sky, his bullets flying. After awhile the area was silent and then Dante fell back through the branches and landed back on his feet, turning to survey the area. Once he was satisfied there were no demons or other man eating plants about to attack him, he holstered his guns and continued down the road. He paused when he heard the girl scream and took off running in the direction of it. If those thorns got a hold of that girl and feed her to its plant, it so wouldn't be good.

Lilith's_________________________________________________________________________________

Lilith drew another card, this time for Trish, drawing Strength and the card seemed to suit her quite well all things considered. The woman was patient for the most part where Dante was concerned, using an almost sisterly teasing to get things done with him. The woman was hardly lacking courage considering her profession and from the looks of things she was very good at what she did. Despite the fact that the woman did not look at all strong there was an inner strength there that could surprise anyone if they didn't see it coming. Not only physically but Lilith wouldn't be at all surprised if the older blonde was filled with mental and psychological strength as well, along with a healthy dose of determination.

In the Mirror____________________________________________________________________________

Mika twisted her right arm until she managed to get it free, by then her vision was blurring, sweat pouring down the side of her face and she it was starting to get harder and harder to breathe. She reached for a piece of one of the branches her fingers just barely brushing it. She strained some more the thorns digging into her skin as she tried hard to reach the damn branch. Finally her fingers grabbed hold of it and she yanked on it as hard as she could. Unfortunately the fever, blood loss, and pain made it hard for her to pull it hard enough to get it to snap away.

The vine snapped her upwards, causing the branch to give way and hopefully something she could use against the vine or whatever it was that held her captive. She found herself hanging higher in the tree tops gripping the branch in her hand, well at least as hard as she could considering the fever and all, there was a bud beneath her, with dark green leaves spread out in four directions. The bud slowly opened up and she found herself staring down at a large, dark blue rose with amethyst colored spots. For a moment her gaze became blurry.

"Pretty," she whispered.

The petals closed up again, before snapping back open with sharp, pure white teeth around the edges and a large tongue shot out from the middle of the petals.

"Not so pretty!"

She shakily brought the stick up and when the tongue was in striking range, she brought it down and hoped it would be enough to damage the tongue until she could figure out a way to get out of this mess. The branch hit its mark, going through the skin of the tongue like a sharp knife through softened butter. The plant screamed and she was released, plummeting towards the ground, her body slamming now and then into branches.

"How resourceful the other me is," giggled a soft voice, from a figure perched on a tree limb in the shadows. "I'm glad to know she doesn't totally depend on a knight in shining armor to save her."

Lilith's_______________________________________________________________________

Lilith drew the next card, the Chariot for Lady. A card of triumph, which was understandable considering the woman survived everything that the world be it natural or unnatural seemed to throw at her, but the woman had to bust her ass to come this far and keep surviving. The woman would have done well to be symbolized by the strength card to from what Lilith could tell. The woman was probably self-disciplined though Lilith couldn't decide if the discipline was always there or if it was something she had had to learn. But the woman also had an extremely well honed focus and obviously she preserved through many things. Though it appeared the woman was undergoing an inner conflict, though if this had to do with the woman's present or past was debatable; but obviously or perhaps she should say hopefully the woman had it all under control. Either way Lilith hoped this wouldn't get in the way of the woman protecting Mika. The woman would be of no good with scattered achievements with Mika being in trouble.

In the Mirror World________________________________________________________________

Dante leapt into the air and caught the girl before she did anymore damage to her body. The shorts and sweatshirt she had worn to bed were in tatters and it looked like she was sporting a pretty high fever, her blood was everywhere as it coated her body in a morbid paint, Dante cursed and situated the girl in his grasp so that he could check on her pulse, it was weak but it was still there which gave him little time to find a way out of this nightmare wonderland place. The moment he did get back to Morrison's he was so going to destroy the fucking mirror.

He started running until he got to a small field that seemed for the moment to be the best place to stop so he could check on her wounds and pulse again. Placing the girl on the ground, he started checking for any more dangerous wounds as well as to see if her pulse was still there, it was and there wasn't much change, all that changed the moment he smelled the fowl stench that tended to accompany poison. Situating himself cross legged onto the ground he placed the girl in his lap and cradled her against him, than taking up one of her wrists he pulled it up to his mouth and drew his tongue along the wound that the thorns had made. He could taste the coppery, sweetness of her virginal blood mingling with the bitterness of the poison of the plant as he slowly licked the wounds clean and closed; while at the same time keeping an ear out for any demons that would attack or any rabid plants.

He could hear her heartbeat getting stronger with each wound he healed and he smiled to himself in satisfaction, all the while praying that the girl didn't wake up while he was doing this. He did not want to do anything to piss of Morrison since he was the one who brought him better jobs then Enzo and most of the time didn't take most of it like Lady and Trish did when they gave him a job that he actually managed to do with little to no property damage, which happened about ten percent of the time. When he finally finished, he had to stop a time or two to take care of some demons, he once more started wondering around, but only after he had wrapped her in his trench coat, the labyrinth to find a way out. Something told him that to get out of this little Wonderland on crack he had to find a damn mirror, since that was how they got here in the first place, and then hope it lead him back to the real world.

A soft male voice chuckled softly and licked his lips watching his lighter half lick up the wounds of the lighter half of his mate. Oh what a sweet scene to watch indeed. Speaking of which, he glanced up above him and saw her sitting in the trees watching the same scene, she glanced down at him and they both disappeared to another part of the forest.

Lilith's__________________________________________________________________________

The next card Lilith drew was the Star for Jasmine. The sign of hope, like always, and bringing with it a sense of optimism and she would bring with to the problem and situation a sense of eternal faith. The only question was what would Jasmine bring eternal faith to the situation, a particular person, or perhaps bring everlasting faith to Mika in particular. Either way the other girl would bring a sense of safety to Mika perhaps it would be in the knowledge that the things that are coming are better then what was behind them. She would bring healing after illness or perhaps after pain and suffering, she would always be welcome. She would heal something in a relationship and bring with her a harmony and hope for the coming future. She would bring with her a new hope for love and confidence despite the past for someone or something so that love can be found again.

Now there was a lovely thought.

In the Mirror_______________________________________________________________________

The girl in his arms began to shift, seeing that she was about to wake up he paused, after making sure there was no immediate danger, to wait for her to full wake up and become aware of her surroundings, strange as they were. The moment she did she flushed brightly when she realized how close she was to him and the fact that she could feel his leather coat in places that would have been covered by her sweatshirt and parts of her shorts.

"Your clothes were more than a little tattered," he said, answering the unspoken question of hers. "I took the liberty of cleaning your wounds and wrapping you in my coat."

She shifted slightly and Dante could tell she was feeling for bandages and in doing so would find healed wounds.

"You don't want to know," he said, once more answering the unanswered question. "Although, I might tell you when you're older and I don't have to worry about your uncle Do you want me to put you down?"

"Please," she requested softly, seeming to breathe easier when he had done so.

Evidently being carried by a male was not a common thing for her.

"Just so you know," he said to her back, as she had turned around to slip her arms through the sleeves. "If I have to pick you up again because we are moving to slow and we need to move quickly I will do so. Maybe even without warning."

"Noted."

"Good, let's go."

Lilith's_________________________________________________________________________

Lilith drew another card, this one for Gabriel, Mika's uncle, and it was the Hierphant. A wise and trusted man, understandable considering all he had done for her and Mika and even Jasmine on the occasion; acting the part of father, uncle, and older brother for all three girls on more than one occasion. Despite the fact that the card often represented something that was difficult and hard to change or large institutions Lilith hardly saw it has a bad thing, Gabriel was indeed hard pressed to get to change his mind about something, especially where his niece and the two of them were concerned. He was a wonderful man and it was sad that he had no children of their own. She also didn't think were Gabriel was concerned that it stood for traditional beliefs in that it was bad for Mika to hang around her and Jasmine; nor would he be dealing with such shady characters day in and out; it probably leaned more to the fact that he was searching for a deeper meaning in life when it came to spiritual matters, whatever that meant for the man.

In the Mirror World_______________________________________________________________

The two darker versions of Dante and Michael Morrison arrived in a small clearing. Dante's Darker version was dressed very much like Dante had been in his youth. Only the trench coat he wore resembled the color more of dried blood and there were sharp, silver spikes decorating it along the shoulders and around the cuffs, looking very much like a punk rocker. The darker version of Mika landed next to him wearing a tattered black skirt that went to her knees and a burgundy halter top that showed off most of her stomach, including the spearhead that was embedded into her side with some of her new skin having grown over it and the whip marks on her back. A crown of roses and thorns was wrapped around her head, entangling in her shortened, blonde hair matted together by dried blood, and large nails were sticking out of her wrists and ankles. There was a morbid beauty about her that should not have been there and perhaps for that reason the Dark Dante loved her even more then he should have been allowed too.

Lilith___________________________________________________________________________

The last card Lilith drew was for Julian, the man that had lead the attack on them at school, this time she drew the Magician. A man who holds power over all around him; but his real power is all illusion and mirrors and that is probably what makes him so dangerous What he stood for maybe real but chances are he wasn't telling his men the whole truth about anything. She would be very much surprised if anything that man said was one hundred percent truth. He was a magician and after all, the only things a magician dealt with was props, smokes, and mirrors, such lovely little mirrors.

Lilith gathered up her cards, reshuffling them, and climbed off the bed, heading over to the light switch to turn the lights back on. The moment she did a gust of wind came in through the open window and blew two cards off the top of her deck. Frowning she went over to look at them and blinked in surprise at the two cards.

It was the Magician again and also Strength. She looked out the window, her eyes losing focus as she stared at the curtains that were dancing in the breeze. Did this mean that more players were going to enter the scene?

End Notes: I got the descriptions for the tarot cards from /resource/cards/ along with Easy Tarot Handbook by Josephine Ellershaw, Tarot Reading for Beginners by Barabara Moore I believe. Along with another website that I no longer remember.

Okay so yes there will be at least two more main characters who will enter the scene. One of which will appear in this story but will probably not have speaking parts until part two and the other won't appear until part two but might be mentioned once or twice in passing. Also more then likely I will redo this chapter.


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